Graduate Theses

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From Fandom to Fine Art: Museums' Capitalization of Pop Culture

Emma O'Brien

2024

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

The following thesis examines the relationship between museums and pop culture, and how the evolution of the role of the museum has influenced this. Three case studies of museums within pop culture and media will be used, Night at the Museum (2006), Ocean's 8 (2018), and the "APESHIT" music video by The Carters (2018), respectively. Each chapter will detail a specific way in which the role of the museum has changed through specified subjects, namely education, fashion, and music. The first chapter will focus on Night at the Museum, a children's film which takes place at the American Museum of Natural History. The history of the Museum will first be contextualized, alongside its mission to educate the public. Dissecting the public's response to the film, the impact the film had on the Museum will be analyzed. Using the film Ocean's 8 as a case study, Chapter Two will outline the Metropolitan Museum of Art's (the Met) role in the making of the film as well as analyzing how the Museum is portrayed. In looking further into the relationship between Ocean's 8, Vogue, the Met Gala, and the Met, this chapter will illustrate the shift the Museum has gone through in regard to its place within pop culture. Analysis of the public's reception of the film as well as the overall impact the film made on the Met will be highlighted. The final case study chapter will focus on the "APESHIT" music video by The Carters which was filmed in the Louvre Museum. This third chapter will illustrate the history of the Louvre and its previous attempts to broaden its audience, the pop culture phenomena that are Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and outline the music video itself. Themes within the video will be analyzed, as well as the public's perception, and the impact this had on the Louvre. Together, each chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of how museums' have increasingly leveraged pop culture to directly increase visibility to their institution.

The Rise and Fall of British Punk: How Capitalism Plagued a Subversive Subculture

Teegan Oshins

2024

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

This thesis provides an overview of the 1970s British Punk movement's inception to determine whether the subculture fell victim to capitalization and consumerism. By examining Jamie Reid (1947-2023), Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022), and Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010), the story of the famed band the Sex Pistols is told through its visual arts and marketing tactics. Each figure's legacy provides this thesis with the intricacies of Punk history and its transition into a subculture plagued by consumerism.

A Journey of Integrating Technology and Art: Xiaomi Group’s Marketing and Branding CROSSPARK International Culture and Creative Consultancy = 科技和艺术的融合之旅：小米集团的市场和品牌

Yi Liu

2024

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

Cross-industry collaborations as a marketing strategy are not new. Luxury brands have long mastered the art of leveraging artistic associations in their process of decommercialization, aiming to reshape their brand image to emphasize their cultural depth. However, in recent years, marketing practices that involve collaborating with artists and leveraging the power of art have spread across a wider range of industries. Especially with the rapid growth of technology, more tech companies are now using art in their marketing efforts to make their products stand out in a sea of similar offerings, creating emotional connections and a sense of uniqueness.

The Survival of the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives: A Case Study A Plan for the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art to Establish a Permanent Home for Queer Film

Christopher Berger

2024

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

In the Castro District of San Francisco, where rainbow flags wave among the streets, a distinct institution serves as both a mirror and a beacon for the LGBTQ+ community. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Historical Society, Museum and Archives, often referred to as "San Francisco's queer Smithsonian," is a vibrant testament to the community's resilience and pride. It stands out as a vital educational institution for the community it serves, and as an exemplar among LGBTQ+ arts, historical, and archival institutions in the U.S. Their strategies are a model for thriving in the face of major sociopolitical obstacles for small culturally specific museums, especially in the LGBTQ+ sector. The GLBT's Executive Director Roberto Ordeñana, key staff members Isaac Fellman and Leigh Pfeffer, and supporters including Cleve Jones, a pivotal figure in the fight against HIV/AIDS and a co-creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, contemplate the organization's next chapter. Despite its rich history and vital mission, the museum faces mounting financial and operational challenges. As public interest waxes and wanes and resources dwindle, the museum team and its allies face hugely consequential decisions about who and what it is and how far it must go to ensure that its heritage remains intact for future generations.

Voices of Strength

Sarah Agudelo

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Domestic violence can have profound and lasting effects on individuals and affect almost every aspect of their lives. It can often create health and personal challenges making it easy for victims to be triggered in spaces. The stages of an abusive relationship can be difficult to recognize due to their layered complexities and subtleties. My thesis proposes "Voices of Strength" as an experiential exhibit for domestic violence survivors, a safe haven created through the principles of trauma informed design; where women can find a sense of community and foster empowerment through various reflecting activities in spaces intentionally designed to promote active healing and vulnerability.

“Haute Craft” by House of Khadi Rebranding Luxury Through Art

Saher Sahni

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Luxury is a subjective experience, varying widely across cultures, professions, and personal values. What may be a luxury for one person might not hold the same allure for another, highlighting the fluid nature of luxury and the evolution of its meaning. Historically associated with exclusivity, craftsmanship, and elite status, luxury today intersects with values like sustainability, accessibility, and innovation, reshaping its image to reflect contemporary ideals.

DREAMS: The Ultimate AI

Jude Desinor

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

In this thesis, my objective is to highlight the areas within the exhibition design industry that could be improved through the study of dreams, as well as conceptualize and implement design interventions to fill in these gaps. Through this detailed theory and graphic documentation, I aim to help the intended audience learn what makes dreams and understanding the subconscious crucial tools for self-improvement and understanding of the world.

Natural Neighborhoods Creating Well-Being for Individuals With ADHD and Autism

Sarah Miorelli

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Spaces such as museums, cultural institutions, zoos, aquariums, and themed entertainment spaces are integral to the human experience and one's search for knowledge, growth, community, and well-being. These spaces encourage and nurture learning, creativity, empathy, and understanding of the world around us. However, what may be an engaging experience for some may be overstimulating and overwhelming for others, especially those with unapparent disabilities such as ADHD and autism. Museums are making great strides to address this problem by offering sensory-friendly hours, sensory kits, and sensory guides. These are helpful accommodations, but they are often implemented after spaces are completed and operational, when these accommodations could be integrated with a Universal Design process from the beginning. By expanding the principles of universal design, and centering this design on well-being for those with unapparent disabilities, designers can take steps to dismantle ableism and create more inclusive spaces for individuals with ADHD and Autism. These design choices can include low-stimulation environments, transitional spaces, "quiet spaces," predictable or familiar features, and "wayfinding." The following thesis and applied design project illustrates how it is possible to accommodate individuals with unapparent disabilities in a successful way that does not affect, and possibly even enriches the neurotypical experience.

Sharing Experiences: Exploring Participatory Design for Traveling Exhibits in Non-Traditional Host Sites

Carlos Hernandez

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Museums are increasingly interested in growing their outreach and social presence in their home communities and beyond. Traveling exhibits have long provided a way for museums to connect with diverse and distant audiences outside of their home communities, however many traveling exhibits are designed primarily with peer institutions in mind. There is an opportunity to grow engagement with potential host organizations outside of the typical museum hierarchy and introduce museum content into more facets of our social infrastructure. Locally engaged organizations such as community centers, non-profits, universities, and libraries have rich insights and networks in their home communities and can use traveling exhibitions as a catalyst for developing unique, place-based experiences that enhance the visiting content. By incorporating participatory design strategies and encouraging co-creation with traveling exhibit content, designers can adapt traveling exhibitions to be more impactful and accessible to diverse hosting organizations and their communities.

Inclining: Aging With Energy Is Aging a Skill?

Honey Jernquist

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Inclining: Aging with Energy is a fun house of reimagining: connecting people with best practices for healthy aging in fun and unexpected ways, and engaging embodiment with humor and possibility. Getting old is also getting new. The challenges of embodiment are always and ever. What if we reimagine aging as a skill? What if we reimagine our visions of aging? What if we (re)encounter having fun in the body — what that might have been, what that could be? Why not grow into the playground, instead of out of it? Is our construct of aging fundamentally based on the flawed philosophy of the compartmentalized, disembodied concept of mind? Let's explore!

What Is in a Name? A Deep Look at How Names Factor into Our Identity

Meredith Newman

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

This document is written in order to qualify for graduation from the Exhibition and Experience Design Master of Art program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. This document is organized in two parts. The first part focuses on research around a topic in exhibitions and/or experiences. The second part is an application of the research in hypothetical practice.

The River Has Teeth Monsters, Myth, and You in the Florida Everglades

Steven Coward

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

This document is organized in two sections. Part One outlines the theory of use and intent with regards to wayside signage and interpretive trails in outdoor spaces, while Part Two implements this theory in an applied project.

Creating With Community: Imagining Collaborative, Justice-Oriented Spaces

Kellyn Nettles

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

This paper explores some of the necessary parameters, including concepts, physical structures, and strategy, for exhibition designers to consider as part of the co-creation process in local communities, with the goal of sustaining movements for broader social change. I will detail my research on the topic, and propose a solution on behalf of clients that operate on a grassroots level. Key principles of this research were outlined by members of Àrokò Cooperative, a design organization formed in 2020 that is dedicated to cultivating a future of Black Liberation, care, and well-being for Earth and all of her inhabitants. The Àrokò Cooperative Design to Divest manifesto states:

Women’s Words & Old Wives’ Tales: Immersive Design in Interpretive Environments

Claire Caverly

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

In the field of experience design, "immersive" has become a term applied to a wide range of projects with little clarity or definition. What does it mean to immerse? The literal definition is "to plunge, or to cover entirely."5 Immersive environments require that visitors are completely absorbed into the stories we as institutions are telling, and in order to embody these stories, visitors need context. Context is provided through multidimensional design that engages all five senses in an accessible and recognizable manner. This context, coming from the Latin "con texere" or "to weave together,"6 provides visitors the cues to craft the meaning of the space themselves, personalizing the experience. Through the provision of context, immersive design offers visitors an innate familiarity of the story, an invitation to participate, and a sense of inclusion.This thesis seeks to define what makes an experience immersive, explore cross-disciplinary techniques for providing context and demonstrate the memorable impact that immersive techniques can have within interpretive environments. Through a synthesis in design elements, immersive, interpretive environments have the opportunity to appeal to the whole person – intellectual, emotional, and physical – creating greater opportunities for lasting relationships with the content.

Experiencing Introversion What Does It Feel Like to Be an Introvert in an Extroverted World?

Akshata Chitnis

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

The first part of the paper delves into introversion by examining its influence across different environments, using case studies to highlight the specific challenges and disadvantages introverts face due to the pervasive Extrovert Ideal. This ideal promotes extroverted traits—like sociability, assertiveness, and public enthusiasm—as standards for success, often sidelining qualities associated with introversion.

Puzzled? Building Inclusive Branded Experiences for Children With ADHD

Sakshi Lokhande

2024

Exhibition and Experience Design

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Thesis

Children's experiences are specially designed with sensory engagement at the forefront. Delving deeper into this theory, this paper helps educators and designers explore the perception of subject matter by children with ADHD through light, sound, touch, smell, and color. It also discusses the impact of ADHD on children's acumen and their ability to enjoy the designed experience with a focus on branded environments. Through the above mentioned sensory pathways, this study aims to help designers by providing baseline parameters for an inclusive space that welcomes and encourages all children to be intuitive and enjoy play.

Fashioning in the Flat: Collage as a Contemporary Approach to Self-Styling

Claire A. Calvert

2024

Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice

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Thesis

Fashion and collage are related in that they have historically been—and remain—intertwined with self-expression and the development of personal style. Like fashion, collage, which is created by collecting, cutting, and combining things, conveys meaning through a system of signs. Historically, collage has been defined rather strictly as a paper medium. However, leaving space for more expansive material parameters lends greater significance to aspects of collage such as the ways in which fragments are combined. Examples of fashion-collage from the seventeenth century through today exemplify that the activity of collage uniquely allows for individuals to explore style expression beyond the physical body and demonstrate material literacy. For fashion media and retailers, collage can be a means of encouraging fashion consumerism and suggesting choice. Examining fashion magazines from their seventeenth-century emergence to their present-day state illuminates the ways in which magazine images evolve. As printing and photography become more accessible and widely used, editorials become more collage-like. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the disposability of magazines, combined with their abundance of enticing illustrations and photography, encouraged readers to use them as materials for fashion-collages–serving as what I term "off-the-body fashion expressions." In the twenty-first century, the now-defunct fashion-collaging website Polyvore took fashion collaging from the physical to the digital, serving as a platform to both create and share digital fashion mood-boards. As the majority of twenty-first-century fashion is ready-to-wear, and consumers have largely lost their material literacy, digital fashion-collage proved to be an excellent medium for building sartorial-sign literacy, and continuing the longstanding relationship of fashion and collage.

An Examination of How Art Galleries and Auction Houses Attract and Retain Millennial Art Collectors

Max Fusi

2024

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

This research paper explores approaches institutions take to promote art to millennial collectors. Understanding the tastes and consumer behavior of millennial collectors is imperative for galleries and auction houses to increase sales. Methods used to investigate these strategies were reviews of art publications, historical trends, literature, analytical data, and interviews with industry professionals. Research shows that millennial art collectors are receptive to forms of art marketing through social media engagement, interactive exhibitions, and social causes. These findings establish an understanding of how art dealers attract and retain millennial art collectors.

Sustainability in the Art World/Art Market Regarding Climate Change = 气候变化下艺术界/艺术市场的可持续性

Hanying Jiang

2023

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

Art, widely recognized as an effective medium for education and advocacy, has witnessed a proliferation of sustainability-themed exhibitions to raise societal attention to environmental sustainability. However, as one of the contributors to carbon emissions and a proponent of avant-garde ideals, the environmental sustainability of the art world/art market has rarely developed. Nonetheless, to eventually fulfill sustainable living for the whole of humanity, every industry has to participate in this sustainability campaign, which includes the art world/art market. Biennials, art fairs, museums, galleries, and auction houses have gradually joined the sustainability movement. The effectiveness of their environmental sustainability within the market is worth attention and evaluation. This paper focuses on evaluating the environmental sustainability effort during the execution of art fairs and biennials inside the art world/art market. It concludes the current phenomenon of the carbon reduction practices in the art market, also offers suggestions for potential effective strategies from within the art world/art market perspective and from a whole society perspective, as well as further research suggestions for the future in terms of sustainability outcomes within the art market.

How Museums Adopt Augmented Reality (AR) to Enhance Visitors’ Experience

Tzu-Yi Chiang

2023

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

Museums play a pivotal role in enhancing and fostering visitors' knowledge, abilities, and thinking. In the past, people used to believe that the best way to acquire historical and ancient knowledge was by visiting museums. However, contemporary museums that solely focus on on-site attendance may seem outdated. Recent research indicates a decline in museum attendance compared to 2019, and even in the post-pandemic era, the visiting rates still remain below their pre-COVID figures. To comprehend the strategies museums employ in adapting to contemporary trends, I have chosen "Augmented Reality (AR)" as the research focus of my thesis paper. For this reason, I am conducting research to explore how museums apply AR to attract audiences. The purpose of this study is to analyze The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Dalí Museum, examining their motivations for adopting AR. Through examining their timeline of implementation, approaches to integrating AR, and the resulting impact on both the museum and visitors, the ultimate goal is to provide museums with a comprehensive evaluation framework to determine the viability and effectiveness of adopting AR technology. In addition, these findings may interest museum researchers and app designers, encouraging them to develop a broader range of AR applications to provoke a more engaging digital learning experience.

Artist as a Celebrity: Case Studies of Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramović, and Cindy Sherman

Nino Mtvarelishvili

2023

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

The term celebrity has gained widespread usage in the last century, and its meaning continues to evolve depending on the individual's profession. A variety of celebrities are recognized and admired in their respective fields, such as professional athletes, musicians, writers, business owners, collectors, and artists. Some celebrities achieve global fame far beyond their area of expertise. However, certain professions like surgeons, writers, or artists are usually only recognized and respected by their own specific group. Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo are known by people both within and outside of the art world, but their fame has nothing to do with today's celebrity culture. The definition and standards of celebrity have changed alongside the evolution of the media.Many contemporary artists are not widely recognized by most people. While certain male artists like Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Salvador Dali have gained popularity and recognition, this thesis focuses on female artists who have become celebrities in their own right. These artists work in various mediums and have gained high reputation and critical acclaim through their unique themes, styles, and techniques in creating art. This research will closely examine three highly influential women artists: Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramović, and Cindy Sherman. Over the last two decades, these artists have gained widespread recognition and have been celebrated in art circles and popular culture. The objective of this thesis is to investigate and scrutinize the biographies of these artists and identify the moment when they achieved fame. The research will also identify any changes in the markets of these artists and the growth or lack of growth in their careers and reputations during these crucial years.

Bubble Formations in the Contemporary Art Market

Arielle O'Connor

2023

Art Market Studies

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Thesis

This thesis examines the phenomenon of bubbles in the contemporary art market, exploring their formations and how Hyman P. Minsky's five stages of a bubble can be applied to analyze their existence in the market. The study focuses on the contemporary period marked by intense global economic upheavals and new market entrants to the art world. The research provides context by tracing the financialization of the global contemporary art market, showing how it has become prone to bubbles following major financial events. The questions are framed around understanding bubble formation and their links to financial and economic forces. The examined case studies between 1980 to 1990, spotlight the rise of the "Art Stars" of the New York-based Neo-Expressionism market influenced by the financial boom on Wall Street and the Impressionist auction market fueled by the Japanese asset price bubble. The 2012 to 2022 period is also examined, characterized by the post-2008 financial crisis and the emergence of the Zombie Formalism bubble, and later what the unraveling NFT bubble is revealing about the future of the art market. The thesis contributes to the understanding of how financial and economic forces drive bubbles in the contemporary art market. By investigating key periods and case studies, the research sheds light on the complex interplay between market dynamics, global events, and speculative behavior.

Application of Papercutting: Art with Modern Illustration

Meina Zhang

2023

Illustration (School of Graduate Studies)

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Thesis

This paper explores the origins and evolution of the paper cutting art, as well as its impact on contemporary illustration. Paper cutting is defined by engraving, carving, and pattern design on flat material. It has an extensive history universally but especially in the Western Zhou Dynasty, China.

The Cyclical Nature of Illustration

Jane Yeager

2023

Illustration (School of Graduate Studies)

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Thesis

This paper will explore the cultural and technological changes that influenced the popularity of illustration within mainstream American women's magazines between the nineteenth century and the present and will set out to prove that the popularity of illustration within these magazines has a cyclical nature, increasing and decreasing regularly over time. The historical section of this paper will document the initial rise of illustration in women's magazines and the histories of prominent illustrators and styles, while also examining the cultural and technological changes that occurred in each time period and assessing how they affected the popularity of illustration in this context. For example, in the 1930s advancements in photography technology and modernist design movements hailing from Europe caused a decline in illustration and a shift towards photography. Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the present, inventions such as television, computers, and the Internet caused advertising money to be redirected away from magazines, shrinking magazines budgets and leading some to bankruptcy. In 2020, the United States experienced cultural unrest as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions, and the Black Lives Matter movement. This time of national flux led some magazines back to illustration, not only because the pandemic made it more difficult for art directors and models to meet in person for photoshoots, which forced many magazines to rely on art to fill their pages, but also as a means of distinguishing important issues from everyday topics. This paper will then assess the "Current State of the Art" by examining each issue of a list of specific magazines that are representative of the industry from five separate years: 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 and noting how their uses of illustration change from year to year. This approach provides a structured sample set and shows how the popularity of illustration has ebbed and flowed since the start of the digital age. Based on this information, as well as interviews with magazine executives and contemporary illustrators, this paper will make a prediction as to whether the popularity of illustration in women's magazines will continue to operate in a cyclical fashion.

The Influence of Chinese Figure Painting on Modern Illustration

Sixian Wang

2023

Illustration (School of Graduate Studies)

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Thesis

Chinese figure painting is one of the major painting branches of traditional Chinese painting. It is based on the character image as the main part of the picture. Figure painting can be further divided into Taoist paintings, beautiful woman paintings, portrait paintings, genre paintings, Historical story paintings. The painting form of Chinese figure painting is to paint on silk or paper with a brush dipped in water, ink, or color. Tools and materials include brushes, ink, Chinese painting pigments, rice paper, silk. In terms of painting techniques, it can be divided into white-line painting, meticulous (Gong Bi) and heavy-color painting, and freehand painting. Chinese traditional painting appeared earlier than landscape painting and flower and bird painting. This paper will briefly introduce the history, development, and representative figure painters of Chinese figure painting to pave the way for the subsequent influence on contemporary painters.